Cell Circuits Program

The Human Genome Project mapped the sequence of our genetic code, the building blocks of genes and the instructions for assembling proteins. But in addition to making us what we are, these same genes and proteins can also be the root of human disease. The next phase in our scientific understanding of human disease is to document cell circuitry: to move beyond how cells detect extracellular signals and activate genes, toward understanding how all the components work together to perform biochemical tasks, and how malfunctions in these processes drive human disease. Identifying ‘cellular circuits’ will enable researchers to better understand disease and develop effective new treatments.

The Broad Institute’s Cell Circuits Program (CCP) is a scientific community focused on systematically defining the genetic and molecular circuits of a wide-range of cell types. Under the direction of Broad core faculty member Aviv Regev and senior associate member Nir Hacohen, the CCP collaborates across the Broad and affiliated labs to map cell circuitry with the eventual goal of charting the molecular and genetic connections in any human cell type. To help create these comprehensive “wiring diagrams”, the CCP works to develop systematic genome-wide approaches to interrogate the structure and function of each circuit.